Here's another one...


As of writing this, I haven't read any emails that people sent while I was in Luxor. Hopefully, I'll read them and reply back in a day or so.

I still haven't written about Luxor and don't feel like writing out the details tonight. Rest assured, it was a
great couple of days and I ate really well! *laugh* That hasn't been a problem at all, really. I have been walking quite a bit, but I need to start getting more exercise since I've been eating well! *smirk*

Tonight, I went to church. For most people, Sunday is a workday, so most Christian services are held on Fridays. That's the Muslim holy day, so everyone has the day off work. But some churches have an extra Sunday service too. I stopped by the Heliopolis Community Church, since it's just a 15 minute walk from where I'm living. Very nice service and nice people! The pastor talked about Exodus 3 and 4. He asked us to think about what God is asking us to do this week and how we respond...

Before the service, the pastor's wife introduced herself and then after the service, I spoke with the pastor and a few other people. As I was getting ready to leave, the pastor asked me to join he, his wife, and a couple of others at their place for dinner and cards. Of course, I said yes...and we went a few minutes later. It turns out that they live very close to where I do. Just a 5 minute walk, maybe less.

We had beef and vegetable soup, plus little sandwiches. Mostly me getting to know them and telling a bit about myself. After eating, we played cards. They called the game "Auctioneers Bridge", I think. Strangely enough, I learned this very game at orientation a few weeks ago. We called it "Wipe-out".

You play with a full deck of cards and deal 7 cards to each player. A card is flipped and that determines trump. Whatever suit is lead, you must play that suit. If not, you can trump or throw off. However, trump cannot be lead until played on another trick. Each person bids how many tricks they will take and you only get points if you bid accurately. So if you bid 2 and get 2 tricks, you get 2 points. But if you bid 3 and only get 2, then you get -3 points.

In the second hand, you only get 6 cards and then just 5 the next time you deal, all the way down to 1 card and then back up 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, to 7 for finishing the game.

To my card-playing friends, have you played that? Do we have a name for it?